After Hu Xiaobai went back into her house, Wang Yuexi asked in surprise when he saw that she did not look right, “What’s wrong with you now? Didn’t I buy you the lipstick?”
“This isn’t about the lipstick!” Hu Xiaobai said, “I just asked you to buy some lipstick for me. Why do you keep harping on about it as though you’ve done me some great favor? I’m angry because when I told that young man next door that I would recommend a job to him, he ended up telling me that it felt quite good not needing to do anything.”
Wang Yuexi took a bite of his food and said, “I would like to do nothing as well. He’s not wrong to say that.”
“You don’t understand…” Hu Xiaobai related the incident of Yang Xiaojin setting up a stall to sell peaches that morning.
Wang Yuexi was surprised. “But that has nothing to do with you, right?”
“Aren’t I just concerned that Ms. Xiaojin’s happiness will be delayed if it goes on like this?” Hu Xiaobai sighed and said, “She’s such a nice girl.”
“Then why don’t you introduce her to someone else?” Wang Yuexi remarked. “I don’t think they’re married yet.”
Hu Xiaobai raised her eyebrows. “As the saying goes, it’s better to tear down ten temples than to break a couple up. How can I sow discord between them behind their backs? What does that make me? Matchmaker Wang? The one who helped Ximen Qing hook up with women? I don’t do things like that. Although that young man doesn’t have a proper job, they still have quite a good relationship. So I want you to see if you can recommend him a job.”
Wang Yuexi’s expression turned bitter again. “Why do you keep talking about this? Why don’t you go and uphold world peace since you’re so nosy?”
“There’s our future commander for that. As if I can do anything about it.” Hu Xiaobai said happily, “Just say if you want to help them or not. Otherwise, enjoy sleeping on the couch. You’re always bragging about how great you are, but when it comes to getting things done, you’re just helpless!”
Wang Yuexi was at a loss. “Alright, alright, I’ll ask around at the reception lobby tomorrow and see if there are any vacant temporary positions so he can at least work a more stable job.”
“That’s the way!” Hu Xiaobai beamed. “I knew you could do it. I’ll go and talk to Xiaojin tonight and get her to persuade Xiaomi. Although that young man is lazy, I don’t think he’s a bad person.”
“And how do you know that?” Wang Yuexi snapped.
“How bad can someone who’s always reading books be? In the morning, Xiaojin said that he’s actually quite capable. Perhaps she’s telling the truth,” Hu Xiaobai said.
“Whatever!” Wang Yuexi did not want to continue the conversation.
Hu Xiaobai suddenly thought of something. “By the way, wasn’t there talk in the stronghold that the future commander should be coming back to the Northwest soon? Why isn’t there any news about that yet?”
“Why are you worrying about the future commander’s matters? Does he know you? I say, why are you always worrying about everything!” Wang Yuexi said.
“I just wanted to see what kind of person our future commander is, OK?” Hu Xiaobai suddenly became much livelier. “Look at what that magazine says. Our Northwest’s future commander is really one of the rarest men in the world. I’m sick of seeing you every day. When our future commander returns, I’ll definitely go and have a look.”
Wang Yuexi choked on his food. “Go look, look, look! Go and look all you want! But no one’s gonna be looking at you!”
…
“Mrs. Hu was talking about recommending me a job again.” Ren Xiaosu picked up a pork rib and said, “She sure is a nice person, but she’s just a little too enthusiastic in helping others. She probably started thinking about this because she felt bad for you when she saw you setting up the stall.”
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“It’s quite interesting that the future commander of the Northwest has suddenly become a bum in the eyes of the stronghold’s womenfolk,” Yang Xiaojin said with a laugh.
“Hey, why don’t you stop running the stall? Otherwise, who knows what that Mrs. Hu might think next?” Ren Xiaosu said.
“That won’t do. I find running a stall and selling things quite interesting. I’ve never earned any money before. This is the first time I’ve experienced the joy of making money,” Yang Xiaojin said.
When she was at the Yang Consortium, she did not have any financial issues to worry about. It was the same after joining the Saboteurs. Yang Anjing had been operating among the mafia for many years and had a mature intelligence network and bounty system. Therefore, the Saboteurs had never lacked any funding.
Including the time Yang Xiaojin was attending school in Luoyang City, her monthly living expenses started from some tens of thousands of yuan.
Now that she had suddenly started earning her own keep, she found it extremely interesting and fulfilling even though she only pocketed a few cents to a few yuan from the sales of the peaches.
Honestly, Ren Xiaosu could not quite understand why Yang Xiaojin was so interested in this bit of money when it didn’t matter to her given her current net worth.
Yang Xiaojin said, “But the harvest from the peach trees won’t be enough for selling. We only have two trees after all.”
It even sounded like Yang Xiaojin was lamenting when she said that.
Ren Xiaosu thought for a moment and said, “Then let’s sell potatoes. I’ll plant five Potato Shooters in the backyard so that you’ll have something to sell every day. We can use a shed to cover the yard so that no one will see the Potato Shooters. But before that, you’ll have to take the extra step of pretending to go to the wholesale market located a few kilometers away. Only then can you explain where our potatoes came from.”
Ren Xiaosu felt that this was actually quite troublesome. After all, Yang Xiaojin would probably not like going through all that trouble of pretending to go to the wholesale market every day to purchase goods.
However, Yang Xiaojin’s eyes lit up. “Let’s do that then.”
Over the next few days, Yang Xiaojin went out to set up the stall excitedly. Then Ren Xiaosu sat at the stall and accompanied her while reading his books.
After earning some money, Yang Xiaojin used the earnings to buy pork ribs for Ren Xiaosu to eat. She even whipped up a secret braised pork recipe for him.
Gradually, all of the vendors in the market learned that a young couple had arrived. The girl was extremely diligent while the boy was lazy.
Everyone privately said it was such a pity that a nice girl like her was married to a bookworm like him.
In their opinion, Ren Xiaosu was always reading books every day even though he was at the stall. He never bothered to help run the stall. Whenever a customer asked for the prices, Ren Xiaosu would just let Yang Xiaojin handle it.
To strangers, it was as though Ren Xiaosu did not care about his livelihood. They assumed he must have turned stupid from studying too much.
However, Ren Xiaosu and Yang Xiaojin were very calm. It was as though they did not notice the questioning gazes at all.
In the end, it was still Hu Xiaobai who could not stand by and watch any longer. After dinner that night, she went over to look for Yang Xiaojin and cut straight to the point. “Xiaojin, I’ve always felt it wouldn’t be good for you two to carry on like this, so I had my husband find a job for Lü Xiaomi.”
Yang Xiaojin asked curiously, “What kinda job?”
“It’s just a temporary position at the reception lobby of the stronghold’s administrative center.” Hu Xiaobai said, “Although it’s only a temporary job, a lot of people can’t get any work even if they begged for it. Can you talk to Xiaomi so he won’t keep lazing around at home? As a man, he has to understand that the responsibility is on him. How can he let a girl like you support the family?”